Halo: Awake and Alive (Book 2, Arbiter x Female human series.)

Reunite

Bria could barely stand in the phantom they were taking to go scout the nearby area. She blinked heavily. She felt fatigued and famished. But she was determined to find Kyle and end this all. Bria looked over at Thel who looked lost in thought. She managed to gather up the strength to move by him. Her fingers laced with his. He looked confused at first, but she gave him a reassuring smile. Once he looked away, she looked at Buck who also looked confused and slightly disturbed. She shrugged and looked the other way.

Once they landed, Bria had a sense of deja vu. She looked around at her surroundings. Buildings towered high above them, and the streets were ominously quiet. There wasn't a person in sight.

"Where is everyone?" She had asked. "Is this city abandoned?"

"No." A former Elite said. "They have been cowering inside these buildings since dawn. There's something dangerous roaming the streets."

"It has to be Kyle." Bria looked at Thel. He didn't say anything. She tilted her head. What was wrong with him? Why didn't he say anything?

"Watch out!!" Buck had shouted seconds before Bria got shot in the arm.

"Ahhhh!" She screamed in pain as she held her arm a ran for cover. She heard a faint chuckle that made her head turn. He was here.

An explosion erupted and Buck quickly ushered her to a safe spot. He placed his hand on her opposite shoulder.

"Kid. Hey, kid you okay?" He asked while shaking her shoulder. But Bria looked down feeling her blood boil.

She slowly looked up at him. The sight of her glowing eyes almost startled Buck.

"I'm going to kill him." She said through gritted teeth.

Buck smirked. "Make him suffer."

They both ran out of cover to join the rest of the group.

"Woah, dude is she dangerous?" One of the marines asked.

"Nah, she's just ticked off." He replied. "Okay here's the plan." He began to talk. But Bria's mind focused on something else. The sound of a crying child. She walked away from the group unnoticed and followed the sound.

It led her to a building with a small hole from the explosion. The crying grew louder and louder. Until she found where it was coming from. A wall collapsed on bookshelves leaving a small hole. Bria peeked in and saw where the sound was coming from.

"Help..." the child cried. He was shivering in the dark.

Bria gasped. "It's okay I'll get you out. Are you hurt?" She asked while looking for a way to get him out. If she didn't hurry it would completely collapse on him, crushing him.

"M-my arm...." the child cried. He crawled to the hole that Bria was talking to him from. He gasped and moved back when he saw Bria's eyes. "Are y-you going to h-hurt me too?" He asked.

In an instant, Bria had a flashback of when her sister died.

"Is it going to h-hurt us?" Beth said.

Her mind went back to reality.

"N-no. I won't hurt you. I'm going to help you get out of there." She summoned all her strength to lift up the wall. But even with all her strength, she couldn't do it.

"Bria." She jumped and swiftly turned around ready to fight. But it was only Thel. "What are you doing?" He asked.

"This kid is trapped in here. We have to help him or he'll get crushed." She tried to lift it again but failed. "I'm not strong enough."

"Give me cover." Thel walked up to the wall and began to lift it up. Bria took notice of his muscles as he used them well.

Suddenly Bria heard a gunshot. She noticed it was from a beam rifle and it was heading right for Thel. The child screamed and she screamed his name. She closed her eyes and lifted up her hands. Then silence filled the air.

She slowly opened her eyes expecting her heart to break in two from the sight, but it didn't. Holding up her hands froze the beams on sight, inches away from Thels skull. He stared at her, wide-eyed. And she was just as shocked.

"Cool..." The child whispered in amazement.

She looked back for the culprit and found him on top of a roof. She was shocked to see a jackal. What were they doing here? She flung the beam back his way, he tried to dodge but failed.

She looked back at Thel. "Are you okay?"

He nodded once as he groaned to lift up the wall. "Thanks to you, love."

She smiled.

He lifted the wall far enough for the child to crawl out. Bria quickly approached and wrapped her jacket around him, she kneeled down to talk to him.

"Where are your parents?" She asked. By now she was calm and her eyes were normal. That must've been why she felt so dizzy.

The kids' eyes filled with tears. "My mommy, a-and daddy is... Are..." before he finished, Bria quickly hugged him knowing what he was going to say next. Poor kid. He looked barely older than 6 years old. He cried on her shoulder. Which still hurt by the way, but she didn't mind. Pain meant she was still alive and sane.

"Let me see your arm." The child held out the shakey arm for her to inspect. Definitely broken on the elbow. And a few cuts and scratches.

"There are civilians in that building." Buck suddenly came running up. "Thousands already died. If we don't get them out soon, that's thousands of more lives we'll lose in one building."

"I need to find Kyle." Bria said.

"He's Not here." Buck said.

"I heard him." She corrected.

"Well, you heard wrong. We scanned the entire area, there are no signs of him." He said.

Bria felt defeated. "Fine. Take him to the pelican." She gestured to the kid. "Tell a pelican to hover close to the third floor. I and Thel will rescue as many people as we can." She said. Without hearing what Buck had to say, she marched into the building.

"You're mad." Thel said.

"Of course I'm mad. Every time I think I'm close to finding him, he always disappears." She says.

Thel grabbed her hand and spun her around so she faced him. She was frustrated.

"I. Want. Him. Dead." She said.

"This isn't like you." He replied.

"No. Because the old me never had a power that was eating me alive from the inside out." She turned back around and went up to the stairs until she reached a room with a lot of people. She warned them that the building was going to collapse and to evacuate to the third floor.

"Go make sure they make it." She said to Thel. He nodded once, but she quickly raised on her tippy toes and kissed the side of his face. He froze and looked at her. "Be safe." She turned to more rooms to find more people.

Later, she was finally on the third floor evacuating more and more people. She saw the pelican in the distance. Probably the last one, because it only had a few people on it. Thel looked at her. Those were the last survivors. So she started for the pelican.

"Bria??"

That voice... her eyes widened.

Suddenly the ground began to shake beneath her feet. She looked out the window and noticed that the building next to them was going to collapse on theirs. She quickly turned around to that voice and she gasped loudly.

"Cassie?!"